5:2 thread 97: life in the Fast lane is a wonderful thing!

[harriethoyle]

Welcome to the continuing thread for those following 5:2 or other forms of IF (Intermittent Fasting) such as 4:3, ADF, etc.

Basically it is 2 very low cal days ("fasts") per week - which need not be consecutive - and eat "normally" to maintain on the other 5 days.

For those who have dieted or maybe overeaten for years, eating "normally"
means roughly the number of calories your body needs to maintain - NOT reduce - its weight (see TDEE calculator below).

IMPORTANT
If you have had past diagnosed Eating Disorders or serious MH problems you should NOT do 5:2 or any other kind of fasting

JARGON alert

16:8 is a different type of fasting, which can be combined with 5:2.
Daily zero-cal fast for 16 hours and eat within an 8 hour window. To lose weight, this needs a weekly calorie deficit as well

b2b (optional) back-to-back / consecutive fast days, each with an increased allowance of 650 calories instead of 500

BMI (Body Mass Index) healthy range is 18.5 - 24.9 for Caucasians. Upper limit may be 22 for some of Asian origin.

FD = single Fast Day: aim for 500 calories (600 for men or 25% TDEE whichever is higher) or 1000 cals for BF
No alcohol or junk on FDs
Even if you exercise strenuously, do NOT increase FD cals to allow for exercise

MFP = My Fitness Pal, a useful App or website to track food & drink calories

miniFD = MiniFD, 850-1000 calories, no alcohol or junk

NFD = Non-Fast Day, averages around TDEE

NSV / LSV = Non Scale Victory / LifeStyle (change) Victory, e.g. compliment, smaller waist, clothes size

SV = Scale Victory

TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure, the average number of calories you burn in a day, is calculated from your current weight, height, age, activity level.
Aim to average about this for NFDs.

WOE / WOL = Way Of Eating / Way Of Life. We say this instead of "diet", to emphasise that we must make a permanent change in how we eat, to maintain our new healthy weight long term.

Jump in and say hello!

Well done @harriethoyle! Enjoy your hot cross bun this morning!

500g or 1.4lb above target... so close yet so far and looking at my recent progress I'm consistently losing c.0.5lb a week so it might take a couple more weeks yet. Going to try not to go too crazy this weekend and do 3 FD next week and see how I get on

My hcb were amazing @EatYourFive

That's amazing @harriethoyle! Is that your final target? I reached my initial goal this week 62.5 kg (although slightly above it again this morning) but decided to set up a new goal at 59 kg (BMI 22.5).

Off topic but when you had covid did you get a positive LFT? I have symptoms as has my youngest but both getting negative LFT. My eldest had a positive PCR result yesterday.

@EatYourFive it's my current target but I'm tempted to get to it and then set another lower one so I've got some wriggle room if that makes sense...

Re covid: DH was symptomatic for 2 days before his lft came up positive. Mine came up within 12 hours of symptoms!

What would your BMI be with your first target? Mine is only 23.7 so think I can definitely aim higher (or lower in this case!).

Thanks re covid. I think DD2 definitely has it as her symptoms are exactly the same as my eldest's were to start with. Guess should book a PCR to be sure, after all they do say you shouldn't use LFTs if you have symptoms.

Hi everyone. New to the thread.
I’m on day 3 of 16:8. Already feel less.. bloated.

I’d like to lose about 5kg. My main concern is lower tummy pouch/fat. Does IF work to get rid of that?

Are you supposed to do 16:8 everyday or can take a break over the weekend etc?

Please can someone tell me what you can have in the 16hr fast other than water? (Paracetamol? Hot water with free drops of lime juice?)

If someone could explain the science or point me in the right direction for info that would be much appreciated too.

@EatYourFive I'll be 24 so healthy weight but just - I definitely think it would be a good thing to be a bit lower.

@polkadotty2 welcome! this is more a 5:2 thread where we have 500 cals per day as opposed to a 16:8 eating window but have a look at some of the links in the OP and see if any of those help

*500 cals per fast day I should say. not every day!!

Morning all. Fasting today.

Well done on getting through @harriethoyle hope that hot cross bun was super yummy.

Well done everyone, it's very inspiring to hear everyone approaching and smashing their target weights. I'm 12st 10 this morning, so 1lb to go for my first stone. My initial target is 10st 7lb, but I'd love to get back under 10st one day (not been there for about 15 years!), so it feels like a long way to go, but I'm glad the losses are still coming. The lightest I've been since having kids was 11st on my wedding day 3 years ago, so getting through that barrier will feel like a major achievement when the day hopefully comes!

@harriethoyle hello :) thank you. so can I check that with 5:2, you fast for 5 days and eat "normally" for 2? or the other way round?

@EatYourFive Sorry to hear about your party missing - that sucks!
I have had a week of fizz and cake!
Fasting today to ensure I limit the damage

@polkadotty2 - 5 normal days, 2 fast days, although quite a few of us do 4 (ND):3 (FD) particularly if we've overindulged!

I may have had two @MultipleMum5...!

How did your big work thing go @absolutelyknackeredcow? I'm hoping the fizz was to celebrate success!

Thanks @absolutelyknackeredcow, I am so disappointed to miss the party, have been looking forward to it for months. I now have a drive through PCR test booked for this afternoon instead - yay!
Hope the cake and fizz was to celebrate something?

@emmsyg sounds like you are smashing the weight goals.
@harriethoyle Was an amazing week - lots of success and lots of fizz

Felt fab

Yay @absolutelyknackeredcow!

Kitchen closed on 500 - Friday fast felt penance after this week
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend

Wow toast has never tasted so good this morning 😂

Just over 4lbs down after 4 fasts. Really pleased with that.

Happy weekend everyone!

Well done multiple, that’s a nice motivating rate of loss!

Early check in for a Sunday FD because I already feel my willpower slipping through the floor. Eek.

Hello all. Can I join in? I need to loose a stone
I’m 45, been steadily gaining weight - I was diagnosed as being post menopausal last year.

I also broke my ankle three weeks ago and so have gained weight from lack of activity.

I have a full on job (NHS nurse) and 2 hours commuting daily.

Can I ask what are the ‘rules’ for the days off? I know I need to restrict to 500 kcals on days.

Thank you - there are some brilliantly positive stories on this thread.

Hey checked, I'll answer because I'm the only one here on Sundays . Welcome! V sorry to hear about your ankle.

Rules for NFDs - you should aim to stick to your TDEE. Total Daily Energy Expenditure, the average number of calories you burn in a day, is calculated from your current weight, height, age, activity level. There are some good calculators out there for this.

Ie don't go nuts and eat back all your FD calories! I have to say though, personally I do have biscuits/takeaways etc on NFDs if I fancy it. I often find I wake up after a FD not very hungry, so instead of going on an eating spree I often self-moderate easily enough, even if the day before I was fantasising about pizza or croissants or whatever.

There aren't many other rules.

Generally it's good to eat as you mean to go on.

Hi @checkedcloth welcome! @TheWayTheLightFalls has it spot on re TDEE. what you might want to do for your first couple of weeks is track calories in something like my fitness pal so you can get a feel for what a non FD looks like then you can freestyle a bit more once you're familiar with this wol. Good luck! It's a great way to achieve sustainable weight loss.

I'll be checking in for the usual b2b roll call tomorrow!

Thank you both that’s so helpful. I’ve looked at a calculator and worked our my TDEE to be 1670.

I’m planning to fast on Tuesday and use MFP for tracking.

Signing in for day 2 of a b2b. Yesterday was so hard! Too much treat food in the house. But I've woken up not very hungry so let's see how we go. Morning Monday fasters!